A great comeback from the women in blue as Fetu Samoa ran away with a thrilling 26-12 victory over Fiji Bulikula at the Santos National Football Stadium on Sunday. As temperatures rose to great heat, the ladies from Fiji went with their first opportunity to score their first try by cowboys NRLW player Vatalina Naikore. Fiji tried to push forward to score more tries, ball handling was not so good for the Fiji side despite having much less experience in their squad than Samoa, that soon saw the ball return to Samoa which ended in the hands of Eels wing Lindsay Tui settling both teams at 4-4. Soon after a tireless defense with 13 minutes left on the clock, Samoa took the chance to take the lead with Taylor Mapusua running from the corner to put a clear try followed by a successful conversion by five-eight Pauline-Piliae Rasabale. Annetta-Claudia Nu’uausala secured her another pointer for her just before the end of the first half. Coming back with more energy and power, Lindsay Tui scored herself a double and not just far, Fiji broke the ice with a tremendous catch by Naikore herself to secure a double for her side followed by a back-back try by Aliti Namoce. Despite Samoa ending the final minutes with a sin bin for center Petesa Lio, try scoring machine Mapusua [caption id="attachment_46341" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Fetu Samoa Player Being Tackled By Fiji Bulikula Defenders - PC: Nigel-Francis Mado[/caption] got away with a double to end the game on a high note in front of a cheerful crowd. Fetu Samoa Coach Jamie Soward said, the Fiji side started well despite loosing Destiny Mino-Sinapati and one sin bin, the girls still stuck at it and won. “It was a great game. Great experience to be over here in a rugby league nation." "Great to see that Fetu Samoa is back on the map and I got a special bunch of group of girls and staff that worked hard and tirelessly for it.” Fetu Samoa captain Niall Williams-Guthrie said, despite the late come back, they still made it through. “Though we had a little surge in the back of the game, the girls still stuck tight and we got away with the win.” Meanwhile, Fiji Bulikulas Assistant Coach and former Fiji Bati mentor Shane Morris said, they had a game plan and this was the first time the girls played together as team. Overall, Shane said he is proud of his side’s performance. “It was a bit conky at stages but overall, I am very proud of the girls and what we’ve done." "Samoa is a very good team and going up against most NRLW players and I think we controlled what we came here to do and we did it.” He further stated that, they will continue to do better going forward as they work towards the 2024 games.